Friday Human Rights
Watch published a long piece critical of the government of Venezuela,
saying it had adopted "tactics of an authoritarian regime."

HRW director Jose Vivanco said "The
Venezuelan government has openly embraced the classic tactics of an
authoritarian regime, jailing its opponents, muzzling the media, and
intimidating civil society." He added "Any leaders genuinely concerned
with the well-being of democracy in Venezuela should send a clear
message that these authoritarian practices are unacceptable."

The tactics Vivanco is referring to
include opening fire on fleeing protesters, beatings, and a media blackout:

Human Rights Watch has received multiple
reports from local human rights advocates that Venezuelan security forces in Caracas and other parts
of the country have beaten or shot at unarmed protesters since February 12.

A video posted online by the newspaper
Ultimas Noticias shows uniformed police accompanied by men in civilian clothing
in Caracas who appear to be shooting live ammunition at fleeing protesters –
among them 24-year-old Bassil Da Costa, who is seen falling to the ground with
a fatal gunshot to the head.

The use of live ammunition by security
forces would only be lawful under international standards if their targets pose
an imminent threat to the life of or of injury to the security forces or third
parties. There is video evidence of anti-government protesters engaging in acts
of violence and vandalism, including throwing rocks at police. But the
government has not provided, nor has Human Rights Watch been able to find after
reviewing dozens of videos posted online, footage showing anti-government
protesters carrying firearms or using lethal force against security forces or
third parties.

All available accounts from witnesses
indicate that the majority of protesters were peaceful, and those that engaged
in violence or vandalism did not carry firearms or use lethal force against
security forces or third parties.

The only person shot or killed last week
who was not a protester was Juan "Juancho" Montoyo. He was a longtime
member of a far left collectiva who was on hand riding a motorcycle and working
with others to intimidate (and in some cases shoot) protesters. Last June Al
Jazeera interviewed Montoyo who told them "Violence is a tool."

Meanwhile, in Valencia
this Tuesday, "eight protesters were shot, one fatally, when a group of
men in civilian clothes on motorcycles opened fire at demonstrators in Valencia."
The individual who was killed was Genesis Carmona, a young beauty queen who had
been voted Miss Tourism last year. Conveniently, a longtime ally of President
Maduro who is also a current government minister claims the shot that killed
Carmona came from a fellow demonstrator.

In addition to the violence, Maduro's
government has engaged in a media blackout:

On February 11, William Castillo, director
of CONATEL, the state broadcasting authority, warned media outlets that news
coverage of violent incidents could violate the Venezuelan broadcasting law.
Castillo cited article 27 of the law, which the pro-Chávez National Assembly
passed in 2004 and modified in 2010. The article gives the government broad
powers to punish private media for broadcasting material that – in the
government’s estimation – “foments anxiety in the population or threatens
public order,” “denies the authority of the legitimately constituted
authorities,” or “incites or promotes hatred and intolerance for religious [or]
political reasons.”

On February 12, the government ordered the
country’s cable providers to stop transmitting the international news channel
NTN 24. President Maduro said the next day that that the order had been a
“state decision” in response to the channel’s coverage of the protests, which
he characterized as an attempt to “transmit worries of a coup d’état.”

On February 13, President Maduro
instructed Communications and Information Minister Delcy Rodríguez to “adopt
measures” against correspondents of Agence France-Press for having “distorted
the truth about the events of February 12.”

On February 15, the Venezuelan government
restricted the ability of Twitter users to send images, a representative of
Twitter, Inc. told Bloomberg News.

President Maduro also threatened to shut
down CNN in the country if their reporting
was not to his liking. This prompted at least one CNN reporter to leave the
country.

Venezuela

Moises Naim
was the minister of trade and industry for Venezuela,
a board member for the International Crisis Group,
is a senior associate, International Economics Program for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and
an advisory council member for Transparency
International-USA.

Note: George
Soros is a board member for the International Crisis Group,
was a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch,
and the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open
Society.

Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funderfor the Human Rights Watch, the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Jessica Tuchman Mathews
is a board member for the International Crisis Group,
the president of the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank), an advisory council member for Transparency International-USA, a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), a director at the
American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).

Ed Griffin’s interview
with Norman Dodd in 1982

(The investigation into
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for
population control by involving the United States in war)

Ted Turner
is the co-chairman for the Nuclear Threat Initiative
(think tank), and the founder of CNN.

Walter
Isaacson was the chairman & CEO for CNN,
and is the president & CEO for the Aspen Institute (think
tank).

John
Brademas was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think
tank), and is an advisory council member for Transparency
International-USA.

Moises Naim
was an advisory council member for Transparency
International-USA,

a board member for the International Crisis Group,
is a senior associate, International Economics Program for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and
the minister of trade and industry for Venezuela.

No comments:

Sam on Bob Harden Show

Who Is Aristotle the Hun

"Aristotle the Hun" was the name given to me more than 30 years ago when a friend noticed that in spite of my intellect I was still an Iowa farm boy.

Rev. Sam Sewell, is Director of Best Self USA, a Pastoral Psychotherapist, serves on the faculty of Naples Community Hospital as an instructor for Clinical Pastoral Education, President of the Theological Center in Naples, a member of Mensa where he serves as Gifted Youth Coordinator, a U.S. Navy Veteran, and a Member of the Association For Intelligence Officers. He is a frequent commentator on mental health and religious issues.His award winning research on family issues is published in several languages. Member of Sigma Delta Chi Honor Society

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Quotation Gallery

"Though defensive violence will always be 'a sad necessity' in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men."- St. Augustine

"A new idea is first condemned as ridiculous, and then dismissed as trivial, until finally it becomes what everybody knows." -

William James

"This is the real task before us: to reassert our commitment as a nation to a law higher than our own, to renew our spiritual strength. Only by building a wall of such spiritual resolve can we, as a free people, hope to protect our own heritage and make it someday the birthright of all men." --Ronald Reagan

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."-- Edward Abbey

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."John Stuart Mill

"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government." ~~~George Washington

"I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University." William F. Buckley, Jr.

"Conservatives are enemies of the government. Liberals are enemies of the nation because they are not enemies of the government."Aristotle the Hun

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?"Albert Einstein

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain." ANON

"That government is best which governs least."Thomas Paine

“A nation that substitutes emotion and empathy for rational thought will eventually digress into the Dark Ages,”Congressman Steve King (R-IA),

INTEGRITY: The highest courage is to dare to be ourself in the face of adversity. Choosing ethics over convenience and truth over popularity means there is never a wrong time to do the right thing.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.

The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

They may be more likely to go to Heaven for good intentions yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be “cured” against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals.~ C. S. Lewis

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." ANON

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The government is conspiring against the citizens. The citizens have pitchforks, torches, tea bags, tea parties, Grand Juries and the Constitution. The government doesn't stand a chance!

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The famous Chapter 16 from "I Fired My Doctors" thathas become a "best seller" as a separate publication.

"The stress management chapter alone is worth the price of the book.”
Selwyn Mills, PhD